Cement, Energy and Environment

Director General (Actg), NCB. The first speaker was Shri S.S. Momin, Joint Managing Director, MSRDC who spoke on the subject of 'Mumbai– Pune Expressway - Why Cement Concrete Pavement Selected'. He explained in great detail as to the numerous problems drivers faced on the old Mumbai-Pune Highway (NH-4). The major problem was overcrowding, since the road carried more than five times the traffic for which it was designed. Another major problem was the frequent accidents caused due to the bad surface of the road and its poor geometries. There were other problems also, such as landslides, especially during the monsoon. Shri Momin then went on to explain the procedure and the planning that went into the concep tion and designing of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and gave detailed reasons as to why a concrete pavement was selected for it. These included minimal requirement for maintenance, a trouble-free smooth surface and a difference of only 6 per cent in the overall cost between a concrete road and a bituminous one. Speaking next, Shri J. Ganguly, Vice President (Transportation & Projects), Larsen & Toubro Limited, dealt with the 'Challenges Faced and Solutions to Difficulties Encountered during Construction ofMumbai-Pune Expressway'. He began by giving details of the Expressway especially of the 31-km stretch that was constructed by L& T. He explained the reasons why concrete roads were superior to bitumen roads and went on to clarify as to where and when they would have the greatest advantage. He then enumerated the construction parameters and techniques used by L&T and gave details of. their portion of the work. The third speaker Shri S.G. Joglekar, Director & Vice President, Stup Consultants Limited spoke on the subject of 'Concrete Pavement of Mumbai-Pune Expressway- DesignApproach, Quality Assurance and Results Achieved with Special Reference to Section- I: Kon to Chowk' . He gave the detailed background regarding the basic concept and proposal for the Mumbai- Pune Expressway and explained the factors that guided its design. He explained how they had to obtain foreign coll aboration for its planning, si nce the existing AASHTO - based design system used in Indi a did not cater for the expressway's 34-cm thickness and could not be extrapolated for the purpose. Hence, AASHTO used a British design method instead , which took into consideration the thickness required. He also elaborated how the expressway section from Kon to Chowk was constructed and how quality control was maintained during the work. The las t speaker Shri Ashok Kumar of Consulting Engineering Services spoke on the subject of 'Problems/Innovative Techniques adopted for Gha t Section of Mumbai-Pune Expressway'. He gave the background to the construction in the Ghat Section of the Expressway. He then went on to explain the problems faced due to the restricted Right-of– Way and numerous obstacles in their path, including unique ones, such as electric pylons, oil pipelines, old bridges cutting across the existing Mumbai-Pune Expressway (NH-4) without inconveniencing the heavy traffic using the road. He spoke about how they us~d high gabion walls, split carriage-way and stabilization of the soil to facilitate their work while keeping open the flow of traffic and maintenance work on the road. The four speakers then answered questions from the audience about difficulties faced in the execution of the project, management of cost and time targets and future projections on similar projects. Visit to the Expressway The Seminar was rounded off by a visit to theMumbai-Pune Expressway. During the visit, the control structure for traffic monitoring by CCTV was explained, problem areas and how theywere overcome were shown on the groLmd, and delegates were introduced to modern road-building techniques. .....